The network’s broadcast of Flyers-Pens, which drew a 1.2 overnight, scored a 4.7 local rating in Philadelphia. Excluding the two Winter Classics the Flyers have participated in, this is the best number for a regular season game in Philly since January 12, 2002, when the Rangers hosted the Flyers – and Eric Lindros returned to Philadelphia for the first time – on ABC. That game drew a whopping 9.7. Yesterday’s game drew a fairly standard 12.7 in Pittsburgh.

The 1.2 overnight was – excluding special events (Winter Classics and Hockey Day in America) – the best numbers for a regular season game since 2010, when a Penguins-Capitals game scored a 1.3 overnight.

Without NCAA Tournament games to challenge it, a wild Flyers-Penguins game drew solid numbers for NBC on Sunday.

The network’s second consecutive broadcast featuring Philadelphia and Pittsburgh drew a 1.2 overnight rating, according to Sports Bustiness Daily (reg. required). This is the best number NBC has drawn since the regional window on Hockey Day in America (2/19/12: 1.4), and the best number NBC has drawn for a single game since the Winter Classic. The last time NBC hit a 1.2 with a single game was in February of 2011 (2/20/11, PIT vs. CHI).

The game was up 17% from last year’s comparable broadcast (4/3/11, NYR vs. PHI: 1.0), and up 17% from the comparable broadcast in 2010 (4/4/10, DET vs. PHI: 1.0). It was also up 17% from two weeks’ ago, when the network also aired Pens/Flyers. In fact, it drew the best numbers ever for a regular season game in April on the network. The last time the NHL drew this high a number for a regular season April telecast was 2001 on ABC (4/7/01, COL/DET, PIT/PHI, NYR/FLA, DAL/SJ: 1.4). With the regular season winding down, April can often be a bit of a dead zone for NHL ratings, but a seriously entertaining Pens-Flyers game beat that.

The NHL on NBC has it’s seventh (!) regular season finale on Saturday, with the Blackhawks visiting the Red Wings.